Three More Arrested in Boston Marathon Case

Apparently, the men behind the Boston bombings were not acting alone. According to recent reports, two of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s classmates, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, were apprehended by the FBI and are being charged with obstruction of justice after supposedly disposing of Dzhokhar’s computer and firework collection immediately after the Boston explosions. Dzhokhar’s computer, which may have contained plans about the Boston attacks or future plots, has yet to be found.

While it is unconfirmed whether or not the boys were collaborating with Dzhokhar in the concealment of these items (some reports claim the bomber specifically asked the students to hide the materials while others say the two noticed Dzhokhar’s face on television and took the objects to protect their friend), their actions could land them with 5 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

A third suspect, Cambridge resident Robel Phillipos, was also arrested and is being charged with lying to police about his knowledge of the bombers’ whereabouts. He faces the same $250,000 fine but up to eight years in jail for his involvement.

Evidence seems to suggest the boys’ actions were not malicious. Both Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev have cooperated with the police investigation. They have since admitted to texting Dzhokhar after the event to question his involvement (though apparently the bomber only seemed to respond with one or two word responses like “lol”). Last month, the Kazakhstan residents were charged with violating the terms of their student visas and were taken into custody. Otherwise, they have no previous history of criminal activity.

Police have pointed to Kadyrbayev’s Facebook activity as proof of his collaboration with Dzhokhar, who changed his profile picture around the same time as Kadybayev, 15 minutes after the initial explosions.

The capture of these three suspects raises questions about how elaborate the marathon explosions were and whether or not there are more suspects waiting to be captured. Could it be possible that the Boston police did not catch all of the participants? If so, there’s a chance these bombings are not finished. After all, Dzhokhar and his brother were not able to enact the second half of their plan: to explode bombs around New York City’s Times Square.

So, are these three suspects as innocent as they seem? Were they simply trying to protect their friend, without recognizing the consequences of their actions? Or do you think they had darker intentions? Could there be other suspects still on the run, plotting new catastrophes? Or is this the end of the Boston Marathon wild-goose chase?

Image via Mail.com